


This was no ordinary out.
Leading off the fourth inning against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on Saturday afternoon in The Bronx, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. dropped down a pretty bunt along the third-base line.
DJ LeMahieu, playing third, waited for the ball to roll foul.
But after LeMahieu touched the ball in what looked to be foul territory, home plate umpire Lance Barrett called it fair, which looked to be the wrong call.
Witt never stopped running as he looked to turn the bunt into a double.
Cole, however, was paying attention and threw to shortstop Anthony Volpe, who tagged Witt out at second base.
“I thought it was fair. I think it’s foul by the definition [of the rule]. But from my vantage point, I thought it was fair,” said Cole, who struck out 10 and allowed two earned runs over 6 ¹/₃ innings as the Yankees clinched the series victory with a 5-2 win. “I was a little frustrated that we didn’t let it go a little further, but obviously I was wrong. It worked out in our favor. We made a good play and collected an out off of it. It was a good play by D.J. He was right.”
So, to recap, Witt reached base on what seemed to be a foul ball and then was thrown out trying to advance.
While the weird hit snapped an 0-for-20 drought for the young shortstop, Cole nevertheless retired the first batter of the inning in strange fashion.
“It worked out,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Good heads up play by Gerrit, threw a strike to second.”